Any interest in doing this? I've only been once but I know Tampa Bay GP runs a league on the first Tuesday of every month; would be fun to compete against people from the forum!

 

I have looked into it before. I love karting! Not too shabby at it either. What time on Tuesdays?

 

If you want to get a REAL karting league check out Andersen Race Park in Palmetto; a little bit more of a drive but TOTALLY worth it. It's an outdoor track, almost a mile long, great course, and much faster karts.

here's a video I took there two weeks ago when my buddy and I did an all-day pass for kart rental. They run leagues on Sundays I believe.

YouTube - Andersen Race Park Karting

 

Andersen Race Park, huh? I wonder if it was sold. We did a couple autocross-type events there a few years ago, as well as an entry-level track event sort of thing. The owner never could quite get his act together, though. I don't remember what they called it back then.

What's the cost to rent their karts there?

 

I think it's like $60 for two 15-minute sessions. We just did the all-day karting which was $150, from 10am to 5pm. We were BEAT, but it was totally worth it. Here's a layout; the facilities are beautiful; they even have pit garages all along pit road where the race teams have their karts, and a few were out practicing with their shifter karts.

Andersen RacePark - Kart and Race Car Testing - Driver Training Facility

 

I've heard about Andersen, according to my friend though the karts there are only like 4.5hp briggs and due to the track layout you hardly have to brake? Plus, I know TBGP is open at night (ie after work for me) but if people wanted to do a weekend thing there is always Andersen or Ocala GP (briggs motors). Here is the info for their league: The League | Tampa Bay Grand Prix Go Kart League

 

your friend it totally wrong, there are tons of braking points. I lost it several times because I tried braking too late and ended up locking them up and spinning the kart. I don't think I've ever spun the karts at Tampa Bay GP; not even sure you can.

At Andersen we actually sat down in their lobby area where they have a big white board with the track layout and were able to keep improving out lap times by adjusting our lines, braking points, turn in points, etc by drawing up on the board what we were doing and getting feedback from the staff. it was wild.

i just dont enjoy Tampa Bay GP because of how small the track is, it doesn't present many challenges, i find it boring. but I totally see your point as far as the time constraints go; one downside to Andersen is they aren't open at night when most people are getting off work.

 

TBGP is a blast when you have a few cars out there to compete with. Yes, you can spin those karts, but they have good enough tires on them that it takes some effort.

The league sounds fun, I'm just not sure I'm ready to commit to it.

 

SMB, good to know, maybe he was referring to the kart track in Orlando, not too sure. I'll have to get out to Andersen soon. Ideally I was going to buy a rotax kart and race, but there is so much damn politics in kart racing it's laughable. Looking more into a spec miata now.

Loren, I guess I shouldn't have titled this "league." I was thinking more of a set time and date when we could get some TR'ers together to go at it, not so much a strict "___ day of every month" type deal. Hell even just picking a Saturday and drumming up some interest would be fun.

 

Cool!
Thank you smbstyle for posting that link! I had heard about the track, but I didn't know about the karts!
I was looking for a way to get my 12 year old involved in racing. Close to Riverview, only oval was available...
He came to crew for a couple of LeMons/Chumpcar and someone () told him that with experience he could race with me at 14! I may still want to wait for him to get a little older...
I really like to be able to rent, I wouldn't want to have to buy a Kart now, and eat my Chumpcar budget!
I'm going this week!